Banding machine



Get. 24, 1950 Filed Sept. 11, 1948 J. J. PROHASKA BANDING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I N VEN TOR.

James J Prpaska.

Afro NE Y Oct. 24, 1950 J, PRQHASKA 2,527,330

BANDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 11, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Jam es J Pro/$061k:

BY A N W N 1 A T701? Y ing. a .band .aroundean elongated article.

UNITED; STATES, PATENT OFFIE- BANDING MACHINE J ameslag lProhaslsagi alos HeightspIlL, assignor to; v p Swift ii-Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation.

" fnlimsis Application Sdptember 11, l948g-Se'rialNa -48,8912

' 12.. Claims.

. This; invention relates toxa, machine-for form.- ing and sealing a label stripgaround 1 an elongated package, and; .more eparticularly is .c0,ncerned withimprovement in-xmanually operated ma.- chinesndaptedltoasealpa. strip around a;single. article ior;tobanchasplurality of, articles in.;.a

manner toeformabundle; 1

It. is'anlobjectof. this'inventiona to provide an improvedbanding.machineforeforming and seale Another object vof..thisoinventionais. to..provide abanding machine. having;a' positive bearingsur. facet againstwhich overlappedportions of a band; maybe pressed during .the :sealing. operations Another I object of: this: invention .is. to provide an ranvill-likeli bearing vi surface that. is. movable. from a position out 10f the-tracklfor thestrip into; position for assisting inrthesealing operation; the. movement beinglperformed in timed sequence to. the movementof the. strip andrth'e sealin ele.- ment Anotherobjectof this invention is to provide a driven means to positively hold the 'article-wand label strip during a label-se'a'ling: operation;

Anothen i object of' this invention is to-provideapositiv'ely driven" means for holding thefree end of the label strip while the label is being appliedto an article with :the -ends --of the label overlapped.

- A further'objec-t of the invention is to provide sufiieient to ensure proper jdining of said-"por tions. .1.

Other: objects will appear from the-specification.below.-

Inthedrawings: i

Figure l is a perspective-of abandi-ng machine having. the present improvement incorporated therein; a

Figure 2 .is a side elevation of the banding station showing. the anvil in position to aidin completing thebandsealing operation; r I

. Figure 3 is a front-elevation of thebanding station, partly broken away, to show the 'holddown lever;

Figure 4 is a plan view, partly brokenaway;

showingthe hold-down lever; and

Figure his a front elevation, partly-brolzen away, showingthe anvil in its operative position. Varioustypes of :machines have been proposed in 'the past to fOIm labelingbandsaround frankfurters and :the. like, and affix the bands thereto;

One very successfulmachine for this purpose. is

shovs/ninthe patent: to, Ca'I'. Walter, et. al.,; No.. 1409 724,, October .22, 19.46;v entitled=;,Banding= Machine. This machine provides a. means for manipulating a strip formedof a plurality of labelsjoined end to end so as to form the-end label of the strip into a band around an article such as a frankfurter, or the like, with the ends, of the label overlapped, whereupomthe overs lapped portions of the label may be sealed together to afiix thelabel to the article andthen the label is severed from the strip.

The Walter, et.-al., machine is particularly. de-, signed .for. handling relatively smooth-surfaced products suchas irankfurters and the. like,.where the wall of the product can be made. to back up the, overlapped portions of; the label strip. While a. heater yelement. presses thereagainst to seal them together.. Recently it has. been found desirable.:.to band a plurality. of such article's together, and it is apparent that the. Walter, et al.,

machine might not beuniversally operative for this purpose. In the Walter, et al., device, the

space between'adjacent articles might conceivably be positioned over the overlapped portions oiithe label strip sothat-efiicient sealing enjoining of 1 the overlapped portions would not result.-

Also, :it has' been found that some'heaviery rough surfaced types of sausa'ge products; such as salami, .do 'notzprovide a proper backingeup surface for the heat sealing operation as performed in thisiprior art machine. a

.The present invention has'been made to provide-"an improvement on the 'Walteraetal.,'- machineto overcome the difliculties suggested above. In addition, these improvements serve-to speed up the' banding operation and make the priorart-type of machine"operative for many" more purposes in connection with the application of a band around an elongate'dpackage;

The-improvements, which are described-more particularly below; include an anvil element that" is'movable from a position out Of the labeltrack into' a position to cooperate with the heater elementto'back up the label at the overlapped por tionduring thesealing operation. Another'element'has been addedto the Walter, et.'al., ma

provements are used together, especially in the banding of several articles together, but in some cases either one of these new elements may be used separately with the Walter, et al., combination.

The anvil device takes the form of a movable element which is driven in timed sequence to the movement of the label strip and the heater to provide a relatively rigid surface that coacts with the heater during the sealing operation and which moves out of the track for the strip after the sealing step has been completed. The anvil also engages the free end of the label strip to hold it fixed until the ends of the label are sealed'together in overlapping relation.

The presser element for positively holding the article during the sealing operation is embodied in a lever having a foot adapted to engage against the top of the article being banded to push the article against the forming ring and anvil at the throat of the ring. The presser serves to positively engage the article in the machine during the sealing operation, and as it holds the product and provides the necessary reaction against displacement of the article during the label sealing, the hand of the operator is freed so that he can pick up another article to be handed while one banding operation is being completed. This not only makes for a speedier operation of the machine, but also provides a proper and positive pressure between the overlapped portions of the label and th heater during completion of the sealing operation.

The preferred form of each of these elements is shown in the drawings, the anvil being best seen in Figure 2, while the hold-down lever is pictured better in Figures 1 and 3.

In th Walter, et al., type of banding machine a strip of paper having a thermo-plastic coating thereon and printed up in the form .of labels is fed to a track that forms the strip into a loop, with the end of the strip overlapping a portion of the remainder of the strip. An article to be banded is inserted in the circle thus formed, and the end of the strip is engaged between the article and the loop-forming ring, while the strip is being retracted to tighten the strip around the article. As soon as the strip is fitted; snugly around the article, a heater is driven against the overlapped portions of the strip to seal them together, and then the end label, sealed onto the article, is severed from the strip. In this manner a label is applied to an article by heat-sealing the overlapped ends of the label together. The mechanism for driving the strip, the heater, and the cutter are all more particularly shown in the Walter, et al., patent.

. The Walter machine is well suited to the banding of frankfurters, but when a rough type of product, such as salami, is being banded in the Walter, et al., machine, due to the rough surface of the salami product, there is an insufiicient bearing surface on the product to back up the heater whereby to provide an efficient heatsealing of the overlapped ends of a thermoplastic label. Also, it is sometimes desirable to make up bundles of, say, four frankfurters by placing a band around them as in this type of machine, and in this case the space between two of the frankfurters may fall in a position over the overlapped portions of the strip so that there is no surface to back up the overlapped portions of the strip against the pressure of the heater during the heat-sealing operation.

To overcome these defects and to improve the 4 sealing operation, the present invention provides an anvil means associated with the forming ring in such a manner that the banding can be completed most expeditiously. The anvil means is movably mounted at the throat portion of the forming ring and is normally biased to a position out of the throat so that the label strip can issue into the forming ring to be curled around upon itself. When an article is being banded, the anvil is driven to a horizontal position to engage the label strip against the forming ring to hold the free end of the strip and to present a. rigid surface immediately over the overlapped portions of the strip, whereupon, after the strip has been drawn taut, the heater may engage against the underside of the overlapped portions of the strip and press against the anvil surface.

The anvil means may and preferably does take the form of an L-shaped element It], having a. leg II that is generally horizontally arranged and which forms the anvil surface. The other leg I2 of the L extends downwardly to provide a cam surface for engaging a drive means to move the anvil. The anvil is mounted to turn about a horizontally disposed axis 13, and the axis is positioned with respect to the strip-forming ring so that the anvil surface ll may move from the raised dotted line position shown in Figure 2 to the solid line position there shown.

The anvil is normally resiliently held in the dotted line position shown in Figure 2, but after a strip has been driven into the forming ring and an article is to be banded, the anvil is driven downwardly to engage the free end of the strip to hold it as the label is being drawn into a snug fit with the article. The cam leg I2 engages against the side of the upwardly moving sealing means A, whereby the anvil surface,

is turned to the horizontal position in a properly timed sequence and is held in this position until the overlapped portions of the strip are sealed together.

The L-shaped anvil structure is quite rigid, and as th sealing means presses upwardly, the overlapped portions of the label strip are tightly engaged between the sealing means and the anvil surface II. The cam member I2 is in continous engagement with the side of the heater element, and the anvil is thus held flat against the top of the heater during the entire sealing operation.

After the sealing of the overlapped portions has been completed, the heating means A is retracted, and after the cam rides off the heater, the anvil may move to the'dotted line position under the influence of a spring. The article and the band may be-drawn endwise off ofthe free end of the anvil surface II as soon as the cam member is released.

It is to be noted that the above-described anvil surface H, which is actuated from the heatsealing means, may be used to back up the overlapped portions of the label during the sealing of a label on a salami product or when banding a plurality of frankfurters together to form a bundle. It is thus seen that the label strip can be drawn tight around any kind of product package, and regardless of the configuration of the package or the surface characteristics thereof, an eflicient seal can be produced.

The second improvement for this labeling .machine is concerned with a product hold-down lever mounted adjacent the forming head that curls the label strip, the lever being provided 'asameo with ai eeserror: foot'element 22- iior'fengagingi the arti'cle being'i bandedfi. The hOId dOWfiIlBVG'I functions to freethe hands of the Operator in order" to speed up the labeling operation;

The hold-down lever may be pivotally mounted on the frame of .the machine'to turn about a generallyhorizontalaxis 2! so that-the nose 22of the hold-down lever cooperateswith the product disposed in the 'strip formin'gi ring. The foot 22 is relatively wideandextends'laterallyofrom the hold-down lever and across the width ofl'the forming ring, as best shown in Fig ure-;3;

The "'iorr'ning: ring is provided with: a recess 23; andfwhenthe'strip is being formed into a loop to receive the article to'be'banded, the foot 2-2disdesignedto fit into the cooperatingrrecess 23-formedin the periphery of the forming ring. The foot is proportioned with respect to the recessf in such a way that the presserifoot sub stantially fills the recess 23 and forms a continuation-of the smooth surface of the forming ring which engages'thestrip as it is being'curled. The hold down lever is normally biased by spring Zll towardan upper" position, as shown inFigure' l',-so that the presser foot is normally. situated'in the recess 23 of the forming ring.

from thepresser or foot element portion 25 of the hold down' lever. 25 extends rearwardly from the hub into a position such that it is engaged by adriving wheel 27, carried by'the' link- B, which is an element inthe drive mechanismrforfirst feeding the label strip forwardlmand" then reversing the feed for drawing the label strip taut around the article being banded. The link B, of course, moves in timed relation to the movement of the sealing.

element;

During. normal operation of the machine shown-inrthe above-mentioned Walter, et al.,

patent; as the label strip is retracted and the. sealing means is driven into engagement with" the overlapped"'portions of the strip, the linlr B isdriven' upwardly. When the hold-down lever 2B is mounted to cooperate with link B as described; wheel 21 engages under the finger 25 and turns the hold down. arm 26 about its axis When the hold-edown lever and'ranvil are used together; the hold-downmeans andnthezanvil; are; of 'course, all driven'in timed'relatio'nfrom' In thisv instance, the cam leg. 12 of the anvil means may the drive mechanism for: the machine.

be eliminatedbeoause the pressure produced by the :presser foot cooperates with the. anvil to hold'a particular product firmly against the anvil during the sealing operation. The. hold-down.

lever; additionally servesto prevent the article from being turned or cooked with respect to the anvilduringathe sealing, operation.

Theanvil andhold-down lever are operative,

as above described; to efiect an improved band ingmperati'onsuch. as is .usuallyjperformed in the Walter, et-al.,ltypeof machine. At the beginning of eachcycle-theanvil and the hold-down lever are biased to their upper position. At this point a'strip. has been" fed into theforming ring and 2! so that the presser foot ZZ engages against 7 the article being banded. The hold-down-lever w isthus timed-to move in relation to the sealing element, and the arrangement is such that the presser foot engages the article just after the-band has been drawn taut around the artiole and before the sealing means comes into contact withthe" overlapped portions of the label. In this manner, the presser foot serves to hold the article and band firmly together while the sealing means engages against the overlapped portions. It is apparent that as soon as the presser foot firmly engages the articleand label strip in the forming ring, the operator may release his hold from the article to reach for. the next article to be inserted into theforming ring.

The hold-down lever above described maybe used alone or when the anvil means is present to hold down a single article or a bundleofarticles being banded, whilethe anvil cooperates witlrthev Sealing means to complete the pacli'aiie;

hind the overlappedportions of .1 thecycle-isreadyto start. The article or package' tobebanded is inserted in the loop formed with the-paper strip, and the treadle of the machineis operatedr The label strip is first retracted to tension it around the package, and as soon asthe retraction movement is started the anvil is driven.

downwardly to engage the free'end of the label strip. The retracting motion continues until thestrip; is' dr'awn taut, and then the hold-down leveris driven downwardly. The presser foot 22 engageswthelabel strip over the article, and the anvil-r is positioned between the article andthe' label: at the overlapped portions of the label strip.;

Aswthebanding cycle proceeds, the sealing f means: engages the overlapped. portions of the label to join -them together, and the end label on the strip is severed from the strip. As soon as the sealingoperation is'completed and the banded article is'withdrawn from the ring, the treadlemay be released, and asthe heater and the stripfeeding elements return to their initial positions to complete the cycle, the anvil and hold-down lever return "to their upper positions.

During the banding operation the anvil serves to backup the overlapped portions of the label strip to form abearing for the heat-sealingmeans or such other type. of sealing device, as a stapling means, as might be used: In cooperation with these elements, the hold-down lever positively r engages the article to prevent its displacement during the "banding operation and to free. the

hand of the:operator whereby. to speed up the banding operation;

It is obvious that various drive arrangements cou'ldibe made forthe banding machine and the above-described elements, including. the use of Similarly, while the above is a description of the preferred'form of my invention, many modificationsthereof may occur to those skilledin therart, which will fall within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

l. An'irnprovement in an assembly for manipulating a strip of labels so as to apply the end label 1 the se lingr'operation;

2. An improvement in an assembly for manipulating a strip of labels so as to apply the end label of a strip around an elongated package with the ends of the label overlapped and sealed together, the assembly including means on one side of the strip for sealing the overlapped ends of the label together, and means for severing the end label from the strip, comprising a movable anvil means carried on the frame of the machine adjacent the sealing station, said anvil being normally urged to a first position out of the path of the movement of the label strip while the strip is being manipulated, and means operative after the initial application of the strip around the package to move the anvil from its first position into a position so as to present a relatively rigid surface behind the overlapped portions of the label during the sealing operation.

3. An improvement in an assembly for manipulating a strip of labels so as to apply the end label of a strip around an elongated package with the ends of the label overlapped and sealed together, the assembly including means on one side of the strip for sealing the overlapped ends of the label together, and means for severing the end label from the strip, comprising a generally horizontally but movably disposed anvil means carried on the frame of the machine adjacent the sealing station, said anvil being normally urged to a position out of the path of the label strip during manipulation thereof, a downwardly extending cam element fixed to said anvil, said cam cooperating with the sealing means as it approaches the label to move said anvil into a position so as to present a relatively rigid surface behind the overlapped portions of the label during the sealing operation.

4. An improvement in an assembly for manipulating a strip of labels so as to apply the end label of a strip around an elongated package with the ends of the label overlapped and sealed together, the assembly including means on one side of the strip for sealing the overlapped ends of the label together, and means for severing the end label from the strip, comprising an anvil means carried on the frame of the machine adjacent the sealing station, said anvil being so positioned as to present a relatively rigid surface behind the overlapped portions of the label during the sealing operation, and a pressing means movable into position to hold the elongated package against the anvil while the sealing means is being operated to seal the overlapped ends of the label together.

5. An improvement in an assembly for manipulating a strip of labels so as to apply the end label of a strip around an elongated package with the ends of the label overlapped and sealed together, the assembly including means on one side of the strip for sealing the overlapped ends of the label together, and means for severing the end label from the strip, comprising an anvil means carried on the frame of the machine adjacent the sealing station, said anvil being so positioned as to present a relatively rigid surface behind the overlapped portions of the label during the sealing operation, and a movable pressing means operative to engage against the top of the elongated package to hold it against the anvil while the sealing means is being operated to seal the overlapped portions of the label together, the pressing means being activated by the strip-manipulating means in timed realtion with respect to movement of the sealing means.

6. An improvement in an assembly for mani ulating a strip of labels so as to apply the end label of a strip around an elongated package with the ends of the label overlapped and sealed together, the assembly including means on one side of the strip for sealing the overlapped ends of the label together, and means for severing the end label from the strip, comprising an anvil means carried on the frame of the machine adjacent the sealing station, said anvil being so positioned as to present a relatively rigid surface behind the overlapped portions of the label during the sealing operation, a pressing means to engage against the elongated package to hold it against the an vil, the pressing means being mounted on the frame of the machine to be movable into position against the package in timed relation with respect to the movement of the sealing means, and resilient means for effecting a driving connection between the pressing means and the strip-manipulating means.

'7. An improvement in an assembly for manipulating a strip of labels so as to apply the end label of a strip around an elongated package with the ends of the label overlapped and sealed together, the assembly including means for sealing the overlapped ends of the label together, and means for severing the end label from the strip, comprising a single resilient pressing element to hold the elongated package against the pressure of the sealing means while said overlapped portions are being sealed together, said element being adapted to engage the package on the side directly opposite from the overlapped portions of th label, and means to drive the pressing means into engagement with the package.

8. An improvement in an assembly for manipulating a strip of labels so as to apply the end label of a strip around an elongated package with the ends of the label overlapped and sealed together, the assembly including means for sealing the overlapped ends of the label together, and means for severing the end label from the strip, comprising a pressing means for holding the elongated package against the reaction of the sealing means, said pressing means being adapted to contact the package at a point directly opposite the sealing means, and said pressing means having a resilient connection with the label-manipulating means whereby the pressing means is driven against the package in timed relation with respect to the movement of the sealing means,

9. An improvement in an assembly for manipulating a strip of labels so as to apply the end label of a strip around an elongated package with the ends of the label overlapped and sealed together, the assembly including means for sealing the overlapped ends of the label together, and means for severing the end label from the strip, comprising a pressing means normally held out of the path of movement of an elongated package into position to be labeled, means to drive said pressing means from said biased position into engagement with the elongated package just prior to the engagement of the sealing means with the overlapped portions of the label to hold the package firm against the pressure of the sealing means, said pressing means contacting said package on the side directly opposite thereof from the sealing means.

10. An improvement in an assembly for manipulating a strip of labels so as to apply the end label of a strip around an elongated package with the ends of the label overlapped and sealed together, the assembly including a forming ring for guiding the label into loop form with the ends 01 the label overlapped, means for sealing the overlapped ends of the label together, and means for severing the end label from the strip, comprising a pressing means mounted on the frame of the machine adjacent the forming ring, the pressing means having a presser element for engaging against the elongated package, said element extending into the ring at least as far as across the width of the label strip, and means to drive the pressing means to press said element against the package directly opposite the sealing means to hold the package against the reaction of the sealing means as the sealing means joins the overlapped portions together.

11. An improvement in an assembly for manipulating a strip of labels so as to apply the end label of a strip around an elongated package with the ends of the labels overlapped and sealed together, the assembly including a forming ring for guiding the label into loop form with the ends of the label overlapped, means for sealing the overlapped ends of the label together through contact therewith, and means for severing the end label from the strip, comprising an anvil means so positioned as to present a relatively rigid surface behind the overlapped portions of the label during the sealing operation, a pressing means mounted on the frame of the machine adjacent the forming ring, the pressing means including a presser element for engaging against the package diametrically opposite said sealing means, said element extending into the ring a distance at least as far as the width of the label strip, and means to drive the presser to press said element against the package just prior to the engagement of the sealing means against the anvil.- I

12. An improvement in an assembly for manip- 10 ulating a strip of labels so as to apply the end label of a strip around an elongated package with the ends of the label overlapped and sealed together, the assembly including a forming ring for guiding the label into loop form with the ends of the label overlapped, means for sealing the overlapped ends of the label together, and means for severing the end label from the strip, comprising a pressing means mounted onthe frame of the machine adjacent the forming ring, the pressing means having a presser element to en-- gage against the elongated package diametrically opposite said sealing means, said element extending into the ring a distance at least as far as the width of the label strip, said ring being formed with a recess therein at :a point generally opposite the sealing means, the recess being of a size to neatly fit the presser element which is adapted to fill the recess and complete the ring at the time when the loop is being formed, and means to drive said pressing means in timed relation with respect to the strip-manipulating means and the sealing means so that the presser foot engages the elongated package after the label has been applied around'the package and before the sealing means is operated to join the over- The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

